Stuff in the Sky

wanderingrichard said:
And apparently we can see the alignment here:


Puyallup, WA Patch: Rare Planetary Alignment Over WA Worth Getting Up Early To See.
patch.com

Rare Planetary Alignment Over WA Worth Getting Up Early To See

Set your calendar because if you miss it, the rare alignment won't be seen again for decades.
patch.com patch.com
Click to expand...

Yup, seen the planetary alignment over the last several early mornings, adding in the moon will make it even more unusual (Venus should also be in the alignment, to the east and below the moon.


1655861707656.png


cheers
 
Up early (12:30 AM) to get some work done so I can pack up the house during the day (movers coming Saturday). As such, given the clear skies and late rising and waining moon, I again pointed the scope to the low southern sky (azimuth: 180° 27’ 07.2”; altitude: 22° 58' 39.8”), for about an hour of imaging during the narrow window I have through the trees. Low and behold, the Trifid (M 20) and Lagoon (M 8) nebulae, both in the Sagittarius-Carina spiral arm of our Milky Way Galaxy.

The Trifid Nebula (upper middle) gets is common name due to the three lobes. Interestingly, it is also composed of 3 separate types of nebulae, emission nebula (the reddish glow) where new star formation is occurring, reflection nebula (the blue glow), and a dark nebula, which divides the emission nebula into its 3 parts. The Trifid was discovered by Le Gentil before 1750. Charles Messier added it as the 20th entry in his catalog in June, 1764, and described it as "a cluster of stars of 8th to 9th magnitude, enveloped in nebulosity". The Lagoon Nebula (M 8) is a massive star forming region some 4,800 to 6,500 light years away. The earliest observations of this object were made by Giovanni Battista Hodierna before 1654. When Charles Messier cataloged this object in 1764, he primarily described the cluster, and mentioned the nebula separately as surrounding the star 9 Sagittarii. Although most sources identify only the nebula as "Messier 8", it is clear from Messier's description that he found both the nebula and the cluster.

The Trifid Nebula (M 20), Lagoon Nebula (M8), and in the upper left quadrant, M 21 (an open, but compact cluster containing 57 stars of 7th magnitude and fainter): 15x 240 second light exposures; 15 darks, OIII/H-alpha duo-narrowband filter:

Trifid-Lagoon-PS-vibrance copy.jpg

Information brought to you via SkySafari 6 Pro.

Tonight, the Veil Nebula???

Cheers
 
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mark wlker said:
Who can remember the movie "Day of the Trifids"? :)
Click to expand...
Ha! (Correction - "Day of the Triffids") - I had to look it up, the BBC also produced 2 TV series, 1981 and 2009, based on the 1951 novel by John Wyndham. I'll have to check it out.

cheers
 
As promised, the Veil Nebula ... well, the Western Veil (NGC 6960) and Central Veil Nebulae. Just to the east, out of the field of view, is, you guessed it, the Eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebulae make up the Great Cygnus Loop, the remnants of a supernova explosion, that is estimated to have occurred some 5,000 to 8,000 years ago. The Great Cygnus Loop was first described by William Herschel in 1784 with his 18-inch reflector telescope. He described the western end of the nebula as "Extended; passes thro' 52 Cygni... near 2 degree in length."

Western Veil Nebula (Lower right quadrant) and the Central Veil Nebula: 25x 240 second light exposures; 25 darks, OIII/H-alpha duo-narrowband filter:

Edit: Should have mentioned, 52 Cygni is the very bright star at the western (right) edge of the Western Veil Nebula).

Veil Nebula-PS copy.jpg

Cheers
 
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SilverFly said:
Just the farthest humans have ever seen.

View attachment 22313
www.nasa.gov

NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet - NASA Science

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has delivered the deepest and sharpest infrared image of the distant universe so far. Webb's First Deep Field is galaxy
www.nasa.gov www.nasa.gov
Click to expand...

Just amazing images coming out (think I need to upgrade my setup to compete with these):

www.cnn.com

Live updates: James Webb telescope images released

NASA is releasing four high-resolution color images from its James Webb Space Telescope. Scientists say the pictures will change the way people see the universe. Follow here for live updates.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Cheers
 
This bit of chorizo was not actually a bit of stuff in the sky, apparently had some folks fooled though, and rather upset:

www.cnn.com

Scientist admits 'space telescope image' was actually a slice of chorizo

A French scientist has apologized after tweeting a photo of a slice of chorizo, claiming it was an image of a distant star taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Next week we plan on being over at Hatteras - full moon, hope to get the moonrise over the ocean and perhaps some Perseids.

Cheers
 
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So it seems there is stuff in the sky on the east coast as well, lots of stuff over Hatteras, which has some of the darkest sky east of the Mississippi, though the beach had lots of light:

Milky Way over the Atlantic:

DSC03368-PS copy.jpg


Cheers
 
The "Eye of God"

Formally known as the Helix Nebula and catalogued as NGC 7293 is a planetary nebula in the constellation Aquarius. The nebula was discovered by Karl Ludwig Harding some time before 1824. The Helix Nebula is thought to be the closest planetary nebulae to earth, lying at a distance of approximately 650 light years. The nebula spans an area 2.5 light years across. NGC 7293 is estimated to be 10,600 years old, based on a measured expansion rate of 31 km/sec. The Helix Nebula has been popularly referred to as the "Eye of God", as well as the "Eye of Sauron". I find if I stare at it too long, I get freaked out.

The Eye of God, after a guiding mishap, 43 x 240 second exposures; 30 dark exposures; OIII/H-alpha duo-narrowband filter:

Helix Nebula - 08-27-2022-PS-vibrance copy.jpg

Information from SkySafari 6 Pro.

Also check out the below, pretty cool

Zooming_into_the_Helix_Nebula.ogv.720p.webm

Cheers
 
Very nice, Canuck, but, urm, there're quite a few zeros missing from the age, don't you think 🤔😀?

Thanks much for sharing,
Kenneth
 
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